First Friday Webinar – Making Zero Emissions Buildings the New Normal

USGBC will once again offer First Friday Webinars in 2025 – but this year with a twist! We’ll still gather online over midday on the First Friday of each month for leading-edge education, but in 2025, we’ll alternate live education sessions with highly rated, previously recorded sessions from past USGBC programming. Gather with peers and colleagues at noon Central Time on first Friday of each month to earn those CEs!

These courses are available for anyone to attend, but are free to local or company USGBC members. That includes Missouri Gateway Green Building Council members!

Access the webinar registration and code here. You will be prompted to login to access the code. Once you enter your login details, it will take you to your Member Dashboard. From there, click Member Only Benefits from the left-hand side menu to view the list of benefits and access code for the First Friday Webinars. You can use the code to register for one or more of the first Friday webinars. Questions? Reach out to your MO Gateway Green Building Council staff at info@mogreenbuildings.org.

REGISTER FOR THE JULY 11 WEBINAR

July 11 | Making Zero Emissions Buildings the New Normal

This session examines the enabling factors making zero carbon buildings possible, how USGBC and our members are leading the way and making zero carbon buildings possible, the current policy and market drivers, and what future developments to watch for.

Every day, more owners are committing to zero carbon emission goals, and more buildings are achieving these conditions — for example, there are well over 100 LEED Zero certified projects around the globe. Making zero emission buildings a reality has happened through steady and intentional efforts. USGBC, members, and government agencies have promoted and incentivized best practices for buildings –high levels of efficiency, use of renewable energy, and reducing harmful refrigerant leaks – which form the core of zero emission buildings. Building on this, recent advances and rapid adoption of technologies such as heat pumps, along with the lower cost of renewable energy and decarbonizing grids, have become key factors in creating more zero emission buildings.

The National Definition for Zero Emission Building, local ordinances, and other policies are poised to further accelerate zero emission buildings. Market forces, led by global policy and investor interests, are influencing increased corporate commitments. Speakers will explain the interplay among these drivers, and new tools like LEED v5, in creating momentum and a broad transformation – and how early efforts are playing out. In light of the proliferation of “zero” and “aligned” terminology in the market, speakers will untangle the key terms and components to aid understanding and accountability.

Achieving zero emissions will take different approaches for existing buildings as compared to new, as well as vary by region. Creating carbon reduction plans for buildings and portfolios is becoming critical. The session will highlight the role of governments and nonprofits in supporting quality plans with new resources such as the forthcoming USGBC-ASHRAE guide.

The session also highlights developments on the horizon for zero carbon buildings, namely incorporation of embodied carbon measurement and reduction. Speakers will explain the state of play of efforts to align embodied carbon and whole life carbon approaches.

REGISTER FOR THE JULY 11 WEBINAR

• February 7 | Live | Green Careers, Bright Futures: Strategies for Success in the Sustainability and Advanced Energy Workforce Pipeline
• March 7 | LEED v5 as a Tool for Decarbonizing the Built Environment
• April 4 | Live  | Implementing LEED v5 Operations + Maintenance Worldwide
• May 2 | New Launch for Real Estate Portfolios: Accelerating Action, Performance, and Verification
• June 6 | Live | Green Finance Tools and Resources
• July 11 | Making Zero Emissions Buildings the New Normal
• August 1 | Live | LEEDv5 Updates and Discussion
• September 5 | Digging into SITES
• October 3 | Live | TRUE Total Resource Management
• November 7 | Equity at Scale: Exploring LEED’s Role in Creating More Just Buildings and Communities
• December 5 | Live | Information Forthcoming
• January 2026 | Getting Green for Green: Using Sustainable Finance Strategies for Green Building Investments